Oregon is modern and unabashedly embraces paying players. Accordingly, they attract top talent.
Ucla insists on "doing it the right way" an implicit rejection of the modern business of college football, which is paying players in order to attract top talent.
The two systems met on the floor of the Rose Bowl and it was plainly no contest. Oregon ended the game effortlessly a mere 10 minutes into the competition. It was apparent to all that this was no contest, that Ucla is a failure.
There was no booing. Fans now accept failure, recognizing that Ucla football, with it's obsolete philosophy and bankrupt finances died. This fan sees that death by its own hand.
The two most important people now involved with Ucla football are the new chancellor and Andy Meyers, chief fundraiser in the NIL world. Wasserman, once considered a sharp Ucla VIP now looks like dumb money. In time, his namesake building will house another administrative cubicle farm and maybe also provide headquarters for Ucla softball.
If the new chancellor sizes up this mess and stands pat (likely) Ucla football will be culled from big time college football in time. In the immediate term, if Andy Meyers fails to raise money, talent will avoid Ucla and the team will look as it does now in perpetuity. Fan interest will disappear and so will the team's CFB presence.
Complain about Bienemy, complain about Foster, wonder how good Garbers is. You're wasting your time. The program has been hollowed out and crippled by Morgan Center's public sector mentality. Without a shake to the status quo that brings business talent to the team, it will perish.
Now that the rest of the season is clearly an exhibition, fans should realize that Ucla's status as an exhibition team is likely permanent.
Surprised? When Ucla went bankrupt and kept using the same people and the same systems at Morgan Center without purging and reorganizing they signaled to us that their acceptance of failure and their outdated, obsolete approach to football would continue.
Don't boo. It's the new normal at Ucla.